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The Truth About 11 Myths of Electrostatic Discharge: Part 2

Last week we shared with you Part 1 of The Truth About 11 Myths of Electrostatic Discharge; here’s Part 2…

Myth #6 – An ESD bag is all the protection I need.

There is a somewhat popular belief that you can use the ESD shielding bag that your circuit board or sensitive electronics was shipped in as adequate “matting” when you are working. This could not be more false.

Regardless of which ESD shielding bag you receive or purchase, it ONLY provides ESD protection while the item in entirely enclosed inside a sealed bag. Outside of the bag, it can actually increase the chances that you will generate an ESD event, because the bag is designed to “push” a charge away from the contents of the bag – right into your electronics.

Myth #7 – Grounded metal offers a safe haven from ESD.

In fact, conductive materials – like metals – are not safe surfaces for sensitive electronic components that could be subject to an electrostatic charge, even if they are grounded. In fact, the charge dissipation is so fast, the resistance to ground has almost zero impact.

The point of grounding is to get everything at the same potential energy level so that current from an ESD can’t flow where it shouldn’t. Using metal, even grounded metal, voids this effort.

The next three myths are similar in nature…

Myth #8 – Circuit boards without complementary metal oxide semi-conductor (CMOS) are safe.

On its face, this seems obvious, as it is hard to find a circuit board without some CMOS components. However, ALL circuit boards are susceptible to electrostatic discharges and the damage they can cause.

Myth #9 – A printed wiring board (PWB) permanently protects a circuit board.

Just because a component is inserted into a PWB, that does not protect it from potential ESD damage. It does decrease the likelihood that fatal loss will occur, as the voltage the entire board can sustain is increased.

But this is by no means a guarantee of safety. All proper precautions must be taken when handling sensitive electronics.

Myth #10 – Once products are mounted on circuit boards, ESD mishaps cannot occur.

This is similar to the above myth. But unlike PWB boards, unprinted boards can actually leave sensitive components even more vulnerable because there is less resistance to slow the electrostatic discharge down.

Myth #11 – Small companies cannot afford proper ESD protection.

On the contrary, small companies cannot afford not to have suitable ESD protocols and tools. The risk of damage and the costs associated with it are just too excessive not to invest in the proper implementation of an ESD protected workstation – even a portable one, if need be.

We recommend at a minimum, personal grounding wrist straps, dissipative ESD matting and grounding cables.

We would love to be your full service, seamless ESD solution provider, no matter what your size or budget. Contact us today for more information.

What is Ionization & Can it be Prevented?

In the late 1930’s, Walter Jaeger, a physicist from Switzerland was trying to develop a portable sensor for poison gas. He theorized that gas entering the sensor would bind to ionized air molecules and thereby alter an electric current in a circuit in the instrument. Unfortunately it didn’t work – until he lit up a cigarette.

The smoke particles from Jaeger’s cigarette “sparked” a change in current of the ionized particles and the process would be later adapted to the early version of smoke detectors used in most homes in the 1970’s.

What is Ionization?

Ionization is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons. Ionization can happen as atoms or molecules pass through gases, liquids and sometimes solids.

For the purposes of our discussion, we’re primarily going to be talking about ionization through gas – a specific gas – our atmosphere.

As mentioned, ionization can be positive or negative. Because of the large quantities of air that we encounter in an average building, generally negatively and positively charged ions balance each other out. This is not always the case, however.

Sometimes ions on either side of the spectrum can build up, especially in an environment filled with recycled air. In fact, in some cases, there is a secondary ionization, where the electrons resulting from the passage of charged particles leads to further ionization.

In a previous article, we talked about the various elements of creating an Electrostatic Protected Area or EPA. There are some instances where the addition of an ionizer or an ionizer blower would supplement the protection afforded by a standard EPA.

Ionizer Blowers

Ionizer blowers create a dense and well-balanced ionization current that can help neutralize the air in an EPA workspace. A typical blower uses AC technology to continuously produce a balanced output of positive and negative air ions.

In addition, ionizer blowers come with many options – including task lights, AC and variable speed fans – that will complement the workspace at the same time the ionizer is easily integrated into the EPA workspace.

For smaller, precise jobs, you can even invest in a handheld ionizing air gun.

But, while ionization is good ESD practice in controlling necessary non-grounded static charge generators, they should never be considered replacements for the essential ESD protections – personal ESD wrist straps, ESD control mats and grounding cords.